FIRST EVENT–SUN AND RAIN

140 kms | 5 h 17 m | avg speed 26.6 km/h | avg hr 149 bpm | 2.930 kcal

Today was the day of the first bike event of the year: Veenendaal – Veenendaal.  140 kms race with around 3 thousand cyclists right in the center of Holland. It was a mixed emotion day: nice first 100 kms with sun and good speed and team morale. Followed by the next 40 kms of  heavy ice cold rain and miserable conditions. Se more details after the jump.

Hoje eu participei do primeiro evento do ano: Veenendaal – Veenendal. Uma corrida de 14o quilômetros com 3 mil participantes no centro da Holanda. Foi uma dia de sentimentos mixtos: os primeiros 100 kms foi com sol, boa velocidade. A segunda parte, com os últimos 40 kms, foi embaixo de uma chuva muito forte e gelada. Dá uma olhada nos detalhes depois do link.

The nice thing about Veenendaal-Veenendaal is despite being right in the middle of the country in a region known for its flat roads, the organization managed to meander around every little strip of road with an inclination. That means a good 812 meters of elevation which is a good training for any cyclist who wants to climb mountains in the summer.

Another good side of events like this is that we managed to get a bigger number of people interested in riding. Today we were 10 guys with different level of fitness but all wanting to ride together as a team.

We started riding at 7:00 am in a cold but sunny morning and went thru the most known climbs in the region: Amerongseberg, Defensieweg, Italiaanseweg, Posbank, Emmapiramide and  Grebbeberg among others. Most of them around 7 and 8% of inclination. I tried to be in the front of the group most of the day as I wanted to train consistency. I pushed to my own limit on the climbs and tried to stick to the stronger guys in the group.

I managed to do that of most of the climbs until we hit the 100 kms marc. From that moment the rain started strongly. And it came with a very strong wind. It was a very cold rain and I started having muscle spams due to the cold and wet feeling. At some point right at the beginning of the rain, I was riding with another 3 guys ahead of the group.

They hang up to a quick moving group but I got disconnected because of a slow rider and found myself alone. The rest of the group was too far behind and found myself riding alone for the rest of the day. On the way back, I rode the dike back to the finish at the pic of the rain and it was a nightmare with a speed of only 22 km/h. But I manage to work together with another ride and share the workload, making us both go faster.

I manage to recover in the last 15 kms and finished keeping a speed of 28 to 29 kms/h. In total it was a great ride with a tough last 40 kms. Next is the 3rd Nike team ride on next Sunday.